Right Off Russell

Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com

Tomorrow’s US Open Cup match tends to be missed by the public. Its a part of soccer that seems to confuse many. The basic premise is that while the MLS season is going on, there is also a United States professional tournament. The tournament is open to all professionals teams hence allowing USL teams to compete against the MLS teams. It puts two championships on the line each year instead of one. This game, while often overlooked by national tv coverage and even looked down upon by many mls teams is still important to many and this year the game is bigger than ever due to the story lines coming into the match. This year pits the most storied MLS club, DC UNITED, versus the cinderella upstarts in Sounders FC (from Seattle). Seattle is out to put their mark on the sport in their first year and bring home a championship, while DC United is defending their US Open Cup title as well as going for leading 13 title in their history.

If that wasn’t enough for you, the owners and fans have battled in the media and online over the location of the game creating a lot of animosity and building what could be a new major rivalry in the MLS. DC was awarded the hosting of the game by the united states soccer federation. Seattle has since contested the ruling and argued that they have better support and larger crowds. Meanwhile DC has fired back by doing the we win trophies tour to show that DC is the most storied club and for that reason they are the right hosts of the game. Furthermore DC has had special ticket promotions to help fill the stadium and prove that they have more fans than Seattle. Because of this animosity that has arrisen, the atmoshphere should be quite electric in RFK tomorrow night.
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By Micheal Gibbs

On Saturday, DC traveled north of the border to take on struggling Toronto FC and came up empty handed. In a game that I thought should have turned up with a result for DC was snatched up by Toronto. DC showed, just like the in the Real Game, that they currently are weak at defending attacks from the wings and with speed on the counter attack. A leading scorer like De Rosario cannot be left with time and space. He will make you pay if you do so. DC United was just lucky he choked on one of his breaks. Also, DC needs to figure out their free kicks. Too many of them are ending up in wall or not in a great spot to get some scoring opportunities. There are a couple of positive notes though. DC United’s offense appears to still be working alright. There are times when they try to do too much and maybe simplifying or taking a quick shot would be more effective than looking for the perfect scoring situation. Also Clyde Simms made is first MLS appearance since having his surgery and seems to be getting back to match fitness.
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By Guest Blogger, Michael Gibbs

Having been a soccer fanatic since I was little I have always watched the top European teams play and now on weekends you find me in front of the tv with either Gol tv or Fox Soccer on. While I have watched the MLS, I never have been a true fan of MLS and would probably have been considered a soccer snob in the fact that I would diss the MLS in favor of the more elite form of the game coming out of Europe. My two biggest problems with the MLS were quality of play and quality of fan. This weekend when DC United hosted Real Madrid I was introduced to a whole new MLS experience, one that has buried my lack of interest for the MLS and proven that I was wrong on both accounts.
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Defending Champion DC United has made it to the semifinals of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup. They will have a fiesty Rochester Rhino club of the USL-1 division, who knocked-off the Colubus Crew in the 3rd Round and Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL-2 in the Quarterfinals.

DC United used a reserve-heavy quad to push past the Ocean City Barons, a PDL squad, on June 30th. Late goals from Christian Gomez and Ange N’Silu propelled the team to a 2-0 win. Click Here for video highlights provided by the Ocean City website.

Lastnight against Harrisburg, another strong reserve crowd, fought off a fiesty Harrisburg team from the USL-2. Harrisburg knocked DCU out of this tournament a few years ago. Thanks to 2 early goals by Khumalo and Jacobson and a red card against the Islanders Odur, the Black and Red held on to win the game 2-1. Game Report Match Tracker Photos

In MLS action, DC United, down a few players, was able to manage a tie against the Defending MLS Champs Columbus. Christian Gomez scored off a rebound in the 33rd minute to give DC United the lead, but Columbus managed to tie the game in the 59th minute despite DC United dominating possession. DC United was without Jaime Moreno and Emilio due to injuries and Santino Quaranta and Dejan Jakovi thanks to national team commitments. Highlights Game Report

DC United has a nice rest for the next week and a half as they begin to prepare for the Colorado Rapids. Hopefully, they will be able to heal over that time and get some players back in action.

DC United still holds a very tenative lead in the Eastern Standings, but that should change as Chicago plays a few games.

Are you happy with where DCU is this season? Is anyone concerned about a 2nd-half drop-off similar to last season?

Many thanks to Tony Limarzi for giving us some of his time. Tony can be heard in the DC area on WFED 1050 AM for game coverage. You can also see some of his commentary at BehindtheBadge.

[ROR]There was a rally held on Saturday by DC United supporters in order to encourage the local government to help get the DC United a new stadium. What are the prospects of DC getting their own stadium, whether in DC, Maryland or Virginia?

[Tony] The stadium issue has been a real disappointment for the franchise and the fans.  It seemed as though a few months ago the pieces were in place to have a stadium ready for use within two years, and then almost immediately, the whole process was derailed.  Now everything is back to square one.  It has been tough on everybody.  The team president, Kevin Payne, re-iterated this weekend that the club is still in talks with representatives from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to try and move forward on a stadium.  Read more »

Special thanks to ROR friend Scott from our sister blog Land of the Leaf for his wonderful insight on Toronto. His comments are Italicized.

Previous Match:
Toronto FC is coming off of a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps that kicked off the Nutrilite Voyageurs Cup.  They’ll face some stiffer competition on Saturday afternoon as they face DC United at RFK Stadium.  Last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with the Columbus Crew ran Toronto’s unbeaten streak to three games, and interim head coach Chris Cummins will look for his squad to come-up big against the Eastern Conference’s first place club.  TFC currently sits in second in the East, just a single marker behind DC.

DC United is coming off a tough midweek matchup at KC where they tied the Wizards 1-1. In that game, coach Tom Soehn gained a 1-0 lead with some of his stars Read more »

If you have ever been to a DC United game, you know who Barra Brava is. They are the rowdy fan club that bang the drums, jump, dance, drink and swear for 90+ minutes. On Wednesday, they along with other DC United fans took time to head down up Annapolis to show their support for their team. There is a bill in front of the Maryland General Assembly that would provide funding through the use of bonds that would make way for a new soccer-only stadium in Prince George County, and the fans showed up to help urge their legislators along in the process.

As a die-hard United fan, I would love to see them get this stadium. They are a premiere team in the MLS and they could use the stadium to bolster its attendance and support, not to mention it would be awesome. That being said, I am not sure that it is the responsibility of the State or Maryland to help fund this project. DC obviously didn’t step up to the plate, so what makes Maryland the sugar daddy?